I was riding out too far. If I got caught, I'd get yelled at but good by my father, but I never got caught. Nobody else went out that far. I don't know why everyone was so worried about it. The woods were good and enchanted then, and if you got too close to the edge, they'd just turn you around so you ended up going back the other way. I'd done it myself plenty of times, not that anyone but my friend Ludis knew. The grownups all liked to pretend that there was danger out here, but in the next breath they'd be praising Mara and the king and the safety of the kingdom, so it was hard to know what was true. Besides, if I hadn't been riding out at the fringes I wouldn't have been there when the wards came down. It was late afternoon and I was just thinking I should head in to get ready for dinner when I heard someone talking nearby. I thought about riding away so I didn't get in trouble, but I wondered if they wouldn't hear me anyway, as close as I was. Besides which, no one was supposed to be out here. So who would it be? I shushed my horse Horsename and climbed down, not wanting to be heard, and crept slowly through the brush. The voice was familiar. I couldn't place it, but I could tell he was yelling. He was begging someone to do... I couldn't quite make it out. I got closer. Finally I reached the edge of a grove and I could see him - brown hair and dark riding clothes, a few feet away from his horse. He was facing the other way, but I knew his horse. King Adalric! "I can <i>see</i> them," he was saying, begging someone. I didn't see anyone before him, just a shimmer of heat in the air. The goddess, maybe? There was silence and then he continued. "I'm tired of sitting apart like this, protecting only my people while others suffer outside." This sounded serious. This was beyond getting in trouble for riding out too far. <i>I should go,</i> I thought to myself. I stayed. "Let them in," he said, this time forceful and commanding, more like the king I recognized. There was still no answer, and then he ordered again. "Then <i>bring it down.</i>" Sunlight broke through the tree cover and into the clearing and for a moment I did see a woman, tall and dark, skin like soil and hair like a rainfall. She looked right at me and I shivered. King Adalric started to turn and I thought I was done for. Then everything was so bright I couldn't see anything at all. Negatives of trees filtered back in slowly, and there were still bright spots. I blinked hard and King Adalric was standing right in front of me. "Ausrine, what are you doing out here?" he demanded. I didn't get a chance to answer before he turned away. "There's not time," he continued. "Do you have your horse nearby?" "If that light didn't spook her..." "She won't have noticed it. Fetch her here, I can use your help." Despite the king's assurance, I was relieved to see that Horsename was still where I'd left her, peacefully chewing on some grass. I climbed up on her back, grateful for her solidity. When I came back for the king, he was beyond the clearing, on the edge of a broad path that I didn't recognize at all. "Where are we?" "Beyond the wards," was all he answered. He was riding toward a cart that was stopped in the road a few yards away. A woman and child were seated in the back of the open cart, facing away from us, and another woman was looking in a storage box. There were no horses. "Can I be of assistance?" he asked them. All three of them startled in surprise. I couldn't blame them, really, King Adalric looks pretty regal when he wants to. "Engine's blown," the standing woman said. "Is there a town nearby? Map said this was all null space." I recognized some of the words but not all of them, and the ones I did know carried a thick accent. Beyond the wards, the king had said! No one had been beyond the wards ever, as far as I knew. "There is a town nearby," the King answered. "We can take you there. You'll be safe." The woman still in the wagon scoffed. There was some rapid dicussion I couldn't follow between the two of them, and then the woman and child climbed out of the cart. "Our pursuers-" the woman from the cart began. "The wards are broken but still useful. Those who are not welcome will have a difficult time," the king assured her. "Will you ride? My horse is strong enough for you and your child, and your second may ride with the young lady." The woman said something else I couldn't make out, then allowed the king to help her and her child onto the horse. The second woman pulled two satchels out of the cart and put them on before mounting Horsename with no help from me. "Well met," I said as we started out. King Adalric set a fast pace and wasn't sure what to say; conversation didn't get beyond pleasantries.

"I'm sorry about your horses," I spoke as clearly as I could. I wasn't sure if she'd understand me between her accent and the speed with which we were riding. "Horses?" "The ones pulling your cart. Were they stolen?" I thought she was coughing for a minute, but realized it was laughter. "No, child. The car is mechanical. It runs under its own power... or it would if it were better maintained." Some kind of magic, then, I thought. I hesitated to ask. I don't like being laughed at. There were other people I could ask, too. The other woman didn't seem much better, but the boy - I thought he was a boy, anyway, I hadn't had a chance to ask - was near my age, and might be more helpful. I may not be royalty, but my father's served the king directly since before I was born. He's trained me to follow him as the king's falconer since I could walk, and I looked forward to following in his footsteps.